Trails and Tribulations

Today we went back to ride some great little trails at Dunkeld. We had discovered a load of fantastic singletrack trails in the woods just before the first COVID lockdown and restrictions meant that we never made it back. Today we were reunited and had a great time. As usual we started up Birnam Hill which is always a shock to the system and there is no warmup before the steep climb. We then cycled around and down the trails to the North and then did laps of the cool woodland trails lower down before cycling back in the woodland alongside the railway to return to the car park.

Illya was missing his Fatbike today. The point where the front mech connects to the frame had been getting looser and looser and he had decided it wasn’t safe to ride. Salsa cycles couldn’t provide a fix and so if he wants to keep using it the only option is to convert to an 11 or 12 speed and remove the need for a front mech. Aside not looking forward to the loss of range of gears, the lack of bike parts in the UK at the moment due to a combination of COVID manufacturing issues and Brexit import challenges meant he hasn’t been able to source what he needs from our usual online stores. We tried our luck in a bike shops along our route and were lucky to source the right parts (even if not exactly the spec he is used to!) and this evening the bike modifications were completed.

Test run tomorrow so wish us luck.